The Kings of Cool are ready to rock ’n’ roll again

It’s not too often you get a chance to hear a band who has not only been a part of several highly influential and successful bands but has managed to steer it through the choppy waters of today’s musical world but here you have them, The Kings of Cool.

Michael Christie, Jason Kelly and Stephen Gallagher started writing and recording new songs during the first Covid-19 lockdown and the responses to those songs at radio stations and online sites took off very rapidly.

“Jason, Stephen and myself have played together in bands for many years,” says Michael. “Even though we were involved in separate music projects for a while we always stayed in touch and it felt very easy and natural when we started recording new songs a few years ago.

“The songs just kept coming and we got into a groove of releasing a single every two months or so, and now there are 17 songs out there on YouTube and Spotify.

“We came up with the name The Kings of Cool and it felt right for a couple of reasons. One, because it kind of hints at our music influences and two, because nobody would think of using the word cool in trying to describe what we look like!”

Some of us of a certain age would remember bands that the boys were part of over the years; Georgia, The Malfunctions, The Wild Herrings and more.

As Jason says: “We have played in so many bands from punk to pop to country and all of that comes out in the Kings of Cool songs. There is a big guitar pop influence, but also elements of jazz, country and rock in there. Think Nick Lowe, Squeeze, ELO, Willie Nelson, Elvis Costello, Blondie, Marshall Crenshaw. And we are huge Beatles fans.”

So far they have been delighted with all the radio play, and the online buzz has been amazing.

Here’s Michael again. “We have over 16,000 followers on Facebook from all over the world. Every day we get messages and comments from people in Canada, USA, Europe and even Australia. It’s incredible really and it just shows how the internet has opened up opportunities for local bands like ourselves to reach out globally. We have just set up our website at www.thekingsofcool.net and of course, we are on Facebook, YouTube and Spotify.”

And now for the first time since a few low-key gigs in 2019 The Kings of Cool are emerging from the studio for a while to play some live gigs over the summer.

“Yes, we are excited to get to play live and meet people," says Stephen.

“The very first gig will be in the Abbey Arts Centre on May 4 and we will play a lot of our own songs as well as some songs from other artists that we enjoy playing. We will also have some special musical friends along to join us at the show.”

We leave the final few words to Michael.

“When we started writing songs to help us stay sane during the lockdown, we didn’t have any plans. Now here we are bringing out the album Angels in Disguise in May at a special concert in the Abbey Centre. It’s just brilliant! Personally, I am really pleased that we are already hard at work on songs for the second album. It all comes back to the music. So of course we would love to see as many as possible at the album launch gig and I can tell you we plan to have a great time!”

Thankfully, The Kings of Cool have managed to avoid and overcome all the obstacles that confront each and every band at some stage in its career. In fact, their strength lies in their proverbial ‘musical differences’. They have not only kept their own favourite sounds moving and shaking but they have blended their considerable talents and created some of the most tuneful songs going. They haven’t been afraid to venture into various genres and use them to create exciting soundscapes that stand them in good stead.

So there you have it, Abbey Arts Centre, Ballyshannon, Thursday, May 4. The show starts at 8pm. Tickets are available at www.abbeycentre.ie or (071) 9851375.